Women Composers (MHI2110.01)

Allen Shawn

This class will explore music by women composers, with a special emphasis on composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. We will become acquainted with music by Hildegard von Bingen, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, Germaine Tailleferre, Amy Beach, Lili and Nadia Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Ruth Crawford, Galina Ustvolskaya, Sofia Gubaidulina, Vivian Fine, Betsy Jolas, Ellen Taaffe Zwillich, Joan Tower and Kaija Saariaho, among others, and we will learn about their lives. After a few introductory lectures, the course will consist primarily of student presentations. Each student will be assigned a composer to present to the class. There will be weekly listening assignments and selected readings, and students will be expected to keep a journal of notes on classes and homework.